The attempt by the Peoples’ Democratic Party to retrieve the Governorship stool of Edo State this Wednesday crashed as the Edo Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal in Abuja affirmed Senator Monday Okpebholo as the Edo State Governor.
Delivering judgement on matter, three three-member panel headed by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, dismissed the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Asue Ighodalo, against the outcome of the September 21, 2024, governorship election.
The panel declared that the petitioners failed to call competent witnesses to prove the allegations of non-compliance with the Electoral Act, pointing out that non-compliance must be proven convincingly.
The Tribunal observed that the failure of the petitioners to call polling unit officers, presiding officers or even voters during the election proved fatal to their petition, stating that the Tribunal stated that most of the 19 witnesses called by the PDP merely gave hearsay evidence during the proceedings.
Justice Kpochi faulted what he termed as the PDP’s reliance on Section 137 of the Electoral Act to dump documents on the Tribunal, revealing that it is not for the Tribunal to scrutinise documents tendered by the petitioners.
The Tribunal further pointed out that the BVAS machines tendered by the petitioners remain dormant, as it’s not the duty of the Tribunal to access the data in the machines.
The Tribunal therefore dismissed the petition of Asue Ighodalo of the PDP for lacking in merit.
